PRESSURE GROWS ON MASONS IN PUBLIC JOBS TO DECLARE LINKS

The public accounts commissioner is to review whether freemasons joining public bodies should have to declare their...

The public accounts commissioner is to review whether freemasons joining public bodies should have to declare their membership, reports The Yorkshire Post (p10).

The move by Leonard Peach comes after pressure from MPs who said masons should be forced to declare their membership of the secret society.

Sir Leonard said he would expect anyone applying to join a non-departmental public body to declare any possible conflict of interest and explain whether it was in fact a handicap. That would include freemasons, he told the commons select committee on public administration.

But Labour MP Melanie Johnson said those rules were far too vague. 'There's an area of real public concern. It appears to be left very open in an area in which much more prescription would be helpful to everybody.'

Sir Leonard said it would be wrong to ban all freemasons from applying for public jobs without giving them a chance to explain why their membership was not a handicap.

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